


Panuk is Here for the Entertainment

by Demonwolfkid



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, MuffinLance, Panuk, Salvage, Water tribe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22890301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonwolfkid/pseuds/Demonwolfkid
Summary: Panuk sees more than he lets on. He just doesn't say much.He's still one of the youngest members of the crew.
Comments: 41
Kudos: 2470
Collections: Zuko and The Water Tribe, avatar tingz





	Panuk is Here for the Entertainment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Salvage](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116591) by [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/pseuds/MuffinLance). 



> I always enjoyed Panuk and Toklo. The newest chapter (8) left me wanting to write something about Panuk and then this happened.

Panuk may have been the second youngest crewman, but that didn’t mean he was stupid.

Hakoda knew it. Panuk knew Hakoda knew it. So when Hakoda put him and Toklo in charge of the prisoner he wasn’t surprised. The other men would likely be as friendly as Aake. 

He wasn’t surprised when the prince sucked at chores. Nor was he surprised when he didn’t eat, even if it was troublesome.

He was surprised when Seabreaze tried to preen the prince and the prince let her.

He respected Hakoda, but Hakoda wasn’t his chief. He did however control the fleet- so it was his right to decide what to do with the prisoner. 

Panuk would continue to question the wisdom of keeping an ashmaker on a wooden boat though.

…

The kid wasn’t that bad. He was moody, but he made good company. When he wasn’t glaring, or scowling, or snarking, or just being.

Okay, so he didn’t make good company, but he made acceptable company, and frankly that was better than Panuk expected.

Not that he could expect anything from the prince. He was oddly arrogant, yet ignorant about things. Like he didn’t know about the raids.

He’s also surprisingly easy to get along with. He grumbles sure, yells a lot, and glares more than anyone he’d ever met, but the glares have no weight, and it’s not like the kid’ll actually try anything. He’s dumb, but not that dumb.

Plus it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s drowning in Hakoda’s parka and getting into a splash fight with Toklo

Dumb enough to think they won’t feed him though. Must he explain everything?

Hell, he’s nervous. Not nervous that they’re going to kill him- he’s stupid like that. He’s nervous that he’s going to offend them. Like they’re going to break his legs just to prove a point.

Okay, maybe Aake will. But the prince seems to have already learned to stay out of his way so his legs were likely to remain unbroken.

Toklo gives him a look when they’re relieved from babysitting duty, and he shrugs.

He’d reserve judgement for now.

…

The prince was smart. And helpful- but Panuk was fairly certain that his helpfulness was mostly just boredom. Or maybe he was just restless. Either way, no one should work as hard as his highness did.

It made him exhausted just watching him.

His firebending was useful though. Hot water was nice, hot food was a godsend. The fact that it smelled like a campfire was a plus.

Seeing Hakoda flustered was almost worth sewing duty. Almost.

…

The prince didn’t get jokes. That wasn’t so much a revelation as it was an annoyance. Not so much an annoyance as a potential for entertainment.

The fact that he was trying to befriend Hakoda’s dog was even more potential for entertainment.

…

He’s not privy to the earth kingdom ship tour, but he can imagine.

He is privy to the gossip though. He may be the second youngest, but he’s earned his place. The men respect him, even if they disrespect him to prove a point. Besides, no one is ignorant to how the fleet worked, least of all him.

Toklo wants to talk to Hakoda, but he won’t do it himself so Panuk tags along. He doesn’t really see a point. Hakoda could tell that they liked the moody kid.

He makes a point to make his argument sound though.

....

The prince stays. Panuk can’t say he’s surprised. He may have imprinted on Kustaa, but he’d been adopted by Hakoda. He just didn’t know it yet.

The chief didn’t know it either.

Panuk wasn’t about to tell him.

It was far more entertaining to watch

…

Never mind, Zuko was hilarious.

Totally worth keeping him around.

The look on the Haokda's face!!

The newly christened Seal Jerky was providing a convenient place for Zuko to hide his face.

Burning was an appropriate description of that look. The kid’s face burned more from embarrassment than it did from anger.

…

Bato slips back in seamlessly. Or, as seamlessly as he can with a ashmaker on board.

Bato’s stubborn. More stubborn than Hakoda. He doesn’t have any kids, and it shows. Not that that’s a bad thing. A good chief needs a good second.

He gives the prince a warning though. So he won’t do something stupid. The kid was prone to doing stupid things.

He doesn’t do something stupid. He does something helpful.

Legitimately nice.

Kustaa doesn’t elaborate, but it’ll definitely help Bato.

Bato doesn’t even like the kid.

Huh.

…

Bato takes over prince babysitting duty.

Which is fine, he doesn’t really want the job anyways. Plus he knows what Bato is doing. He understands.

It makes Zuko extra jumpy though. He and Toklo hang near him anyways. Bato eases up a bit if they’re nearby.

Even he can feel Bato’s gaze

…

Bato calms down.

Not a lot, but enough.

The prince gets calmer. Kinda. He spends a lot of time in Hakoda’s room.

When he asks he gets some bender mumbo-jumbo about focus.

He doesn’t bother trying to understand, but things get back to normal after that.

Poke fun at the prince. Do chores. Dodge the albatross-pigeons. Repeat.

Except for now Hakoda is acting weird and things are decidedly not normal.

…

Distractions work best for the kid. Also, he could point west and east at will. That was a thing.

This was getting ridiculous though. Zuko worked extra hard when he was in a mood.

Also slept worse. And that was telling.

It hadn’t even been a full day and Panuk had had enough.

He’d noticed it before. That first letter hadn’t been that bad. The next had been worse. He just didn’t know why.

It’s not stepping out of line. The chief can refuse to answer him.

He doesn’t though. Everyone knows that it’s only a matter of time. He speaks to him as if he’s one of the older warriors. If not as a future chief, then as a future second.

Maybe not yet, but soon enough.

The chief tests him. He responds in turn.

Teasing could serve as a distraction both ways.

He needs a distraction.

…

It takes a few days.

The men act differently. There was nothing protecting him now.

Zuko notices the change. They notice him notice the change.

He sleeps less. He works harder.

Toklo doesn’t get it. The older men do. It’s probably more widely spoken of on the other ships. He’s frankly surprised how quiet they’ve kept it.

…

He has to stop the idiot from doing something stupid.

Okay, yeah, he likes the kid. Ice him over.

He does a piss poor job of talking- he’ll never be a good chief if he can’t even do this-

Yet he manages to get Zuko out of the cargo hold.

That’s something.

…

Bato’s going to let the chief decide.

Panuk decides that giving him a push won’t hurt.

He doesn’t like having to do it, but this is war. He’s been fighting for the last three years. It wasn’t that bad.

He doesn’t let Toklo see what he’s doing though.

Responsibility weighs on his shoulders.

The life of a friend.

He’s not chief, he doesn’t have to do it, but he does.

He won’t go over the chiefs head though. He knows his place.

…

The look in the chiefs eyes tells him all he needs to know.

He won’t send those fingers.

Panuk doesn’t need to see him offering his prayers the next morning to know it.

He does see it though. He bows his head in respect. Both for the chiefs decision and for the fallen men.

They were Zuko’s men. He could respect that.

He doesn’t pray for them though.

…

Panuk cleans the way Zuko cleans. Fast. Focused. Unthinking.

When Toklo joins him he doesn’t say anything. When Healer Kustaa comes in for supplies he meets their gazes, before his own flickers to the body. He gives a hard grimace before returning to the deck.

It’s only when they’re done, the body disposed of behind Zuko’s back (because he didn’t need to see that, not again) does Toklo speak.

“Is it bad that I’m relieved?”

Panuk shrugs. Relieved about what? That Zuko didn’t leave? That he defended Kustaa?

He understands. He also understands Zuko.

Zuko doesn’t notice them approach. Hakoda supports him, but when he looks up and meets Panuk’s gaze Panuk knows it’s going to fall to him and Toklo.

Toklo handles it with the grace that is so Toklo Panuk almost smiles.

It’s nothing to be ashamed of. The vomiting, or his actions.

He doesn’t agree. Or maybe he does.

He bumps shoulders with the kid, and can feel Toklo do the same

...

Hakoda makes his decision. Bato knows it before everyone else, as he should. He doesn’t tell anyone, but Panuk can figure it out.

It takes a couple days. Zuko isn’t totally back to normal, but he’s getting there.

Hakoda catches his eye at the morning meal. It’s when the next message comes that Panuk knows it’s time.

"Why don't you give Hakoda the message," he says. "I'll take Sealsled down."

He runs interference at the door. Not that he needs to. The only person who comes by is Bato, a silent question in his eyes. He nods, and Bato nods.

He doesn’t hear the crack in Zuko’s voice

He definitely doesn’t hear Zuko break down

He doesn’t hear the chiefs offer.

Nor Zuko saying that he’d ruined a man’s life.

He doesn’t disappear up the stairs as soon as he hears Zuko begin to stand. His insistence on working fresh on his lips.

He doesn’t speak when Zuko appears on the deck. There’s no good thing to say.

Surprisingly it’s Aake that breaks the tension.

He can work with that.


End file.
